Kevin A. Menicoche

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. [English translation not provided.]

Earlier this year, in January, I gave a Member’s statement on the deplorable condition of the playground equipment at the Echo-Dene School in Fort Liard. The community is very concerned about how the existing equipment is beyond repair and the pressure treatment used on the wood does not meet current national standards for safety. As well, the playground site itself needs to be backfilled and re-levelled.

Last month I was very pleased when Jackson Lafferty, the Minister of Education, Culture and Employment, visited Fort Liard. During...

Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to see that we will be working in the capital plan towards the playground equipment in Fort Liard in this coming summer and the fall time. I hope to see the capital funds there. However, the community group is looking at building it in components. They have $26,000 this year. They are looking for at least some matching funds from our government who has to be responsible for the school there, Mr. Speaker. Is there a way that the department and the Minister can find some funds this fiscal year or else this summer to help start the playground reconstruction process...

Mahsi, Mr. Speaker. [English translation not provided.]

Mr. Speaker, in 1993 the Assembly of First Nations declared the month of March to be Aboriginal Languages Month. Celebrations of aboriginal languages have occurred every year since. In the NWT the community teaching and learning centres are celebrating with a variety of events. In its press release to recognize this month, the Minister of Education, Culture and Employment assured the language communities that the GNWT is committed to continue its support of language and cultural activities.

The Department of Education, Culture and...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I chose to raise this issue because it is, like I said, becoming two incidents within the last three months. It is quite disturbing to the family. Now they had to recover costs and worry about that, but initially I still do not understand. The family still does not understand why the spouse who was injured or very sick was not assigned or designated an eligible spouse. That is the issue I would like to raise with the Minister. I would like her to check into it. Maybe there is an internal memorandum that has to go around and say, look, are we applying the policy...

With regard to the non-medical escorts, who makes the actual call to have the non-medical escorts accompany… In the two cases that I spoke about in my Member’s statement, there were spouses there, Mr. Speaker. So who would actually authorize or designate these non-medical escorts to travel along with the spouse in the medevac plane and/or immediately soon thereafter? Thank you.

Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. I seek unanimous consent to return to item 7 on the Order Paper.

---Unanimous consent granted,

Mr. Speaker, constituents want assurance that work will be completed with all the talk of the Deh Cho Bridge and debt wall, et cetera. I think the Premier did indicate in yesterday’s Minister’s statement that this coming fiscal year there will be no impact. I would just like to get the Minister’s assurance as well. There are several other Transportation contracts for the Nahendeh riding that work will proceed this coming year. Once again, I urge to get these contracts out of the gate as early as possible. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Mahsi, Mr. Speaker. [English translation not provided.]

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Today I would like to talk about the concerns of constituents regarding the lack of escorts for people who must be sent to hospital on medevac flights.

A constituent told me that at Christmas her husband was rushed to Yellowknife by plane in critical condition. He was in distress and not able to think or speak clearly. She was very worried and concerned about her husband, so she drove to Yellowknife as soon as possible. She reached the hospital some eight hours later. The doctor in charge was very relieved to see...

Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. I, too, rise in support of this motion that’s put before us on the floor here today. I believe one of the primary reasons that I’ll be voting in support, certainly, is that the members of the public and the members of the Nahendeh public certainly do want to see more detailed information on the bridge project. Constituents are really worried about the impacts that it will have throughout the North and this will just be another, I believe, good forum in which to provide as much information to the public once it’s completed and it’s tabled in the House, Mr...

But still, like even if there’s no room on the medevac, you can still designate a non-medical escort. What that designation does there, Mr. Speaker, is it authorizes expenses to be covered for the spouse. Because in these two cases they travelled after their spouses. Their first thought, of course, is the care and concern and the health of their spouse, and the second one is now they’ve got all these out-of-pocket expenses, which they now have to worry about. My issue is that the spouses were not designated as non-medical escorts right off the start there, Mr. Speaker. I am not too sure why...